Low Mississippi levels threaten soya exports

IN BRIEF

WORLD: Leading agribusiness and one of the world’s largest ship charterers, Cargill, is aiming to boost its vessels’ use of biofuels to 50,000 tonnes by mid to the end of 2023, up from 12,000 tonnes since January, the firm’s marine fuels lead Olivier Josse said at the Singapore International Bunkering Conference and Exhibition (SIBCON) 2022.

“We are going to [blend] some fatty acid methyl ester (FAME) in the fourth quarter in Singapore,” Reuters reported him saying.

The move to blend FAME was to try to understand the demand and appetite of customers for biofuels as a bunkering fuel, the 5 October report quoted Josse as saying.

SPAIN: Oil and gas company Cepsa said on 6 October that it had successfully tested its marine biofuel produced from used vegetable oils (with ISCC certificate of sustainable origin) and very low sulphur fuel (VLSFO).

The biofuel was loaded at Cepsa’s bioenergy plant in the San Roque Energy Park, Cádiz and used by a vessel in the company’s fleet.

“The results showed opti performance of maritime engines, leading to Cepsa being able to offer this biofuel to its customers in the maritime sector,” it said.

Low Mississippi levels threaten soya exports

A sharp drop in Mississippi river water levels has forced barges to reduce loads by up to 40% and sent barge freight rates soaring just as the USA approaches the peak of its corn and soyabean export season, AgriCensus reported on 30 September.

Costs to transport grains and oilseeds down the Mississippi river have soared nearly 80% since the beginning of September and over 150% when compared to costs reported at the beginning of August, according to data from the US Department of Agriculture.

The issue had been brought to the fore with the largest US barge operator, Ingram Barge Co, declaring force majeure in a letter to customers, saying “near-historic” low water levels on the Mississippi River meant it could not fulfil deliveries, World Grain wrote on 6 October.

Bloomberg indicated a “logjam” of more than 100 vessels on the river.

World Grain said river water levels were typically at their lowest around this time of year but drought conditions in parts of the Midwest this year had dropped levels even lower, shrinking channels and reducing draft levels.

Around 60% of all US grain and oilseed exports moved

Around 60% of all US grain and oilseed exports are moved down the Mississippi River to ports in Louisiana for export

down the Mississippi River to ports in Louisiana on the Gulf of Mexico. Some Gulf exporters had pulled offers for corn and soyabean loadings at Louisiana ports in October and November as they were unsure if adequate grain supplies could reach export terminals, the report said.

Grain Service Corporation vice president Diana Klemme told AgriCensus that barge freight rates would remain high through the first half of October, which would be a drag on basis upriver rates and push Gulf basis levels higher.

Klemme added that “the difference between cash bids for September/first half of October and December are now big enough that farmers and elevators will look to hold back as many bushels as they have room for – which in turn will only slow US export shipments further near term”.

If higher barge costs pushed FOB Gulf premiums higher, Brazil could overtake the USA in terms of spot price competitiveness with more export demand shifting to South America just a month after an incentivised exchange rate policy had bolstered Argentine soyabean shipments, AgriCensus wrote.

Brazil’s Agrural senior analyst Daniele Siqueira said that several million tonnes of soyabeans could shift from the USA to Brazil.

Around 15% of Ukraine’s storage damaged or destroyed

Around 15% of Ukrainian crop storage facilities have been destroyed, damaged or are now controlled by Russia, the Conflict Observatory reported on 15 September.

The US non-governmental organisation (NGO) said that around 14.57% of Ukraine’s estimated 58M tonnes of crop storage capacity (one in six facilities) had been impacted since Russia’s invasion of the country on 24 February.

“Intentional and indiscriminate targeting of crops storage infrastructure can constitute a war crime and a crime against humanity under international law,” said the NGO, which was reporting on a Yale School of Public Health’s Humanitarian Research Lab assessment of crop storage facilities through commercial satellite imagery.

“This assessment determines that Russia and its aligned forces controlled approximately 6.24M tonnes of Ukraine’s crop storage capacity as of July 2022 regardless of damage,” the Conflict Observatory said.

At least 3.07M tonnes of storage capacity had been destroyed or visibly damaged since 24 February, constituting at least 5.36% of Ukraine’s pre-war crop storage capacity nationwide.

“The assessment also concludes that at least 60 of the 75 facilities (80%) identified as damage-affected are found at port facilities or within less than one kilometre of a railroad.”

The US Department of State called for further investigation, adding that the Kremlin’s invasion of Ukraine had led to the damage or outright destruction of many of Ukraine’s arterial roads, railways, ports, and food storage facilities that were essential to getting its agricultural goods to international markets, World Grain wrote on 19 September.